Today…

• I read an e-mail too quickly, thought I was free tonight, and had to then cancel on Ashley to see Billy Elliot. I was really excited to see it and am bummed I had to let Ashley down.
• I lugged a bag of gym clothes to work and forgot my shorts, so I couldn’t work out at lunch, and now I have a meeting tonight.
• I couldn’t find a pair of jeans in the right size AND wash. (#firstworldproblems)

But…

• The jeans that did fit, just in the wrong color, were a size 27! HEY OHHHH non-scale victory!
• I still got out of the office at lunch and got a wee bit of Vitamin D.
• I engaged in a little retail therapy and got a Moleskine. I hope it’s as life-changing as everyone says it is.
• Someone pitched me about something for my blog this afternoon and said they “liked my images.” I’ve been trying to take better photos lately, so I’m glad the effort’s paying off! (Or maybe she was just being nice. Whatevs. Take compliments where ya get ‘em, right?)
• And I braved a dress I’ve been a little self-conscious about wearing. Cashmere, meet curves. (And crappy bathroom mirror.)

And I brought lunch. It wasn’t fabulous, it’s not pretty, but it was filling.

A sweet potato, spinach, salsa, brown rice and a chicken sausage.

I told you it wasn’t pretty.

I see wine (at my meeting. Yes.) and sushi in my future.

You don’t *need* to work out at all to lose weight.

Losing weight is mostly about eating right—though exercise does help you lose weight faster. That, and it makes you a happier person, decreases your risk of disease, gives you more energy, etc.

After getting home from the boot camp for marathoners, I was beyond ravished. After torching quite a few calories, I certainly needed to replace some. Luckily, I had my leftovers from last night to heat up.

I sauteed some kale to eat with the leftovers, but unfortunately, these leftovers barely put a dent in my appetite. I didn’t feel like *cooking* anything else, so I just munched on some pita chips with hummus. You can’t win them all.

But before I tore into the hummus, I started thinking about a conversation I had with a coworker over the summer, at the height of my marathon training, when I was eating an awful lot. 

“I just eat less when I’m trying to lose weight,” she said. “I’d rather do that than exercise and then have to eat more.”

These days, I also exercise because I enjoy it (most of the time) and I need it mentally, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I exercise to maintain my weight. I’d also be lying if I said that I didn’t like that I can eat a little more and worry a little less about what I’m eating if I’ve just kicked my ass at the gym. 

Eating less and not exercising, or not exercising that much, definitely works for some people, but I think I’d have a really hard time with that. Any time I tried doing that in the past, I’d get fed up after a week or two of trying to eat really well, and give up. Exercising, and then, in turn, eating to fuel my body helped turn this into a lifestyle.

Except tonight. With no suitable snacks/second dinners, I wouldn’t have minded not working out. 

What about you? Do you exercise so you can eat more?